Mental Health Beds

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:43): My question is to the Premier. Does the Premier think it's acceptable that the average wait time in an emergency department for a mental health patient is almost seven hours? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PICTON: The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data released in the past week has revealed the average wait for a bed for a mental health patient in South Australia is six hours and 50 minutes, the worst in mainland Australia.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:44): I certainly don't think it's acceptable for us to have delays in people seeking treatment. That's why we are unwinding the perilous situation that we inherited from those opposite that was inflicted upon the people of South Australia with the downgrading of hospitals and services right across South Australia.

I can advise the house that we have, since coming to government and more particularly in recent months, very significantly improved our services in terms of trying to reduce the wait times for emergency departments, especially with mental health presentations, with the opening of the very first Urgent Mental Health Care Centre in Australia. As I said, even though it has only been open for weeks now, we are already getting fantastic feedback on that service, and I think there is a great opportunity for that type of service to be rolled out right across the country.

We also have very significantly upgraded the number of patients who are going to our priority care centres in South Australia. I recently received some statistics that showed that 14,537 patients had been diverted from our emergency departments to priority care centres since August last year. This is massive because it is actually taking the pressure off the emergency departments. You imagine if that hadn't occurred when we came to government, the very significantly compounding effect that we would have on this surge that is occurring at the moment and the downgrade of our emergency department capacity which was inflicted upon us by the previous government.

We have also, as those opposite would remember if they were paying attention, put mental health clinicians into our ambulances in South Australia with the MH CORE program, again doing everything we can to recognise that there is more work that we can be doing to make sure that we can get the appropriate level of care as quickly as possible.

We find the current situation to be completely and utterly unacceptable and that is why we are moving as quickly as we possibly can to address that. We have moved very quickly since coming to government. One of the things that we had to do when we came to government, of course, was to completely rewrite the mental health strategy for South Australia because as those opposite would know—and they should hang their heads in shame—when we came to government in March 2018 we did not have a mental health strategy for South Australia.

In fact, the previous mental health strategy concluded in 2013. South Australia was without a mental health strategy for the entire state between 2013 and 2018 and, of course, that's when some of the disasters like Oakden were revealed. That's when they were revealed. So one of the priorities that we had, and certainly one of the great priorities for our Chief Psychiatrist, Dr John Brayley, on assuming that role and with us coming into government, was to develop a comprehensive mental health strategy for South Australia.

We have not solved every one of the problems that we inherited from those opposite since coming to government. Those opposite love to talk down the excellent work that the doctors and nurses do in South Australia around mental health.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Take a look. They say it's got worse, Well, let me tell you, what could be worse than Oakden? What could be worse than Oakden? I tell you what's a lot better than Oakden: the services—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Playford!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and the facilities for tier 6 and tier 7 people living with mental health. They completely and utterly—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hurtle Vale!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —neglected the most vulnerable people in South Australia. They can scream and shout as much as they like, but they neglected the most vulnerable people in South Australia, the very people that we're addressing with new facilities and new capabilities like we are now seeing at the Repat.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Colton, I warn the member for Hurtle Vale.